What Unwritten Rules Of Surfing Etiquette Are Crucial For Beginners To Grasp
Ecotourism
1. ECOTOURISM:
PRINCIPLES, PRACTICES & POLICIES
FOR SUSTAINABILITY
Megan Epler Wood
United Nations Environment Programme
Division of Technology, Industry and Economics
Production and Consumption Unit
Tour Mirabeau, 39-43, quai André-Citroën
75739 Paris Cedex 15, France
Tel: 33 1 44 37 76 12. Fax: 33 1 44 37 14 74
e-mail: uneptie@unep.fr
www.uneptie.org/tourism/home.html
The International Ecotourism Society
P.O. Box 668, Burlington, VT 05402 USA
Tel. 802/651-9818. Fax: 802/651-9819
e-mail: ecomail@ecotourism.org
www.ecotourism.org
5. Foreword
Ecotourism has been growing rapidly over the last
decades. Yet, while ecotourism has the potential
to create positive environmental and social impacts,
it can unfortunately be as damaging as mass tourism
if not done properly.
Typically located in pristine, fragile ecosystems,
ecotourism projects run the risk of destroying
the very environmental assets on which they depend.
The loss of biodiversity and wildlife habitats,
the production of waste and polluted effluent in areas
that have little or no capacity to absorb them are just
some of the worries. Furthermore, serious concerns
about ecotourism exist as regards the degree
of social fairness involved, and that of stakeholder
involvement and control.
Recognizing the global importance of the issue,
the United Nations designated 2002 as the
International Year of Ecotourism, and the Commission
on Sustainable Development (CSD) mandated
the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)
and the World Tourism Organization to carry out
activities for the Year. Its goal is to review the lessons
learned in implementing ecotourism, and to identify
and promote forms of ecotourism that lead
to the protection of critically endangered
ecosystems, sharing the benefits of the activity
with local communities and respecting local
cultures.
The last three Conferences of the Parties to the UN
Convention on Biological Diversity’s have dealt
with tourism’s contribution to the sustainable use
of biodiversity. They have also stressed that tourism
generates significant revenues, and that as a growing
percentage of the activities are nature-based,
ecotourism does present a significant potential
for realizing benefits in terms of the conservation
of biodiversity and the sustainable use of
its components.
As a contribution to the International Year
of Ecotourism, UNEP and the International
Ecotourism Society have jointly prepared
this guide that should act as a basic resource
book for governments and practitioners who want
to develop environmentally and socially sound
ecotourism practices. It includes background
data and reference sources as well as practical
guidelines. Case studies illustrate how these
guidelines can be applied. The document has
benefited from inputs by academia, and a broad
range of experts coming from NGOs, inter-
governmental agencies and ecotourism practitioners
at both the international and local level. UNEP 5
“Putting tourism on a sustainable path is a major
challenge, but one that also presents a significant
opportunity”.
KLAUS TÖPFER, UNEP Executive Director.
6. hopes it will provide useful insights to readers
and we will welcome all comments or suggestions
for another edition.
Putting ecotourism on a truly sustainable path
is a major challenge, requiring partnership
and cooperation between the tourism industry,
governments, local people and the tourists
themselves. With your help, we can achieve
the ambitious goals set for the International
Year of Ecotourism.
Mrs JACQUELINE ALOISI DE LARDEREL
Assistant Executive Director
Director, Division of Technology, Industry
and Economics (DTIE)
United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)
We would like to acknowledge our technical
reviewers, whose useful comments helped us
generate a better publication. We are deeply
indebted to Patricia Barnett (Tourism Concern),
Sylvie Blangy, Ken Chamberlain, Claude Martin
(WWF International), Michael Meyer (ETE), Laura
Meszaros (UNEP/DEC), Nina Rao (Equations and
the CSD-7 Southern Tourism Caucus), Wolfgang
Strasdas, Niclas Svenningsen (UNEP/ROAP),
Frank Vorhies (IUCN), Eugenio Yunis and Gabor
Vereczi (WTO/OMT) and Hamdallah Zedan and
Alexander Heyendael (CBD).
TIES acknowledgements
Jeremy Garrett: Editor
Lynnaire Sheridan: Case Studies and Resource Lists
Wolfgang Strasdas: Graphics
Also thanks to: Maggie Bowman, Elizabeth Halpenny,
Nicole Otte, Patricia Carrington
Cover photos: Megan Epler Wood, Khary Bruning.
Text photo credits
Megan Epler Wood: pages 7, 8, 12 (Philippines), 18,
21, 24, 27, 29, 31, 35, 40, 42, 43, 47, 56.
Chandra Gurung: pages 12 (Nepal), 23.
Khary Bruning: page 9.
Tortilis Camp: page 13.
Kapawi: page 19.
International Expeditions: page 17.
Albert Teo: page 38.
Kingfisher Bay: page 53.
6
7. Introduction
Travel and tourism are among the world’s
fastest growing industries and are the major
source of foreign exchange earnings for many
developing countries. The World Tourism
Organization (WTO) reports that receipts
from international tourism grew by an average
annual rate of 9% between 1988-1997. The number
of international tourist arrivals reached more
than 664 million in 1999 (well over 10% of the world’s
population), and international arrivals are expected
to reach 1 billion by 2010. The increasing economic
importance of tourism has captured the attention
of most countries. However, the global growth
of tourism poses a significant threat to cultural
and biological diversity.
Ecotourism is a growing niche market within
the larger travel industry, with the potential of being
an important sustainable development tool. With
billions of dollars in annual sales, ecotourism
is a real industry that seeks to take advantage
of market trends. At the same time, it frequently
operates quite differently than other segments
of the tourism industry, because ecotourism
is defined by its sustainable development results:
conserving natural areas, educating visitors about
sustainability, and benefiting local people.
Market research shows that ecotourists are
particularly interested in wilderness settings and
pristine areas. According to the fifth meeting
of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention
on Biological Diversity, ecotourism has a unique role
to play in educating travelers about the value
of a healthy environment and biological diversity.
However, proper planning and management are
critical to ecotourism’s development or it will
threaten the biological diversity upon which
it depends.
In the last 10 years, travel experiences in fragile
natural and cultural areas have benefited from
a variety of innovative small-scale, low-impact
solutions offered by ecotourism – some of which will
be documented in this package. These approaches
have had an influence on the larger tourism market,
but ecotourism will never transform the tourism
industry, nor can it be a perfect model in every
instance. Like all forms of sustainable tourism,
it is a dynamic field, with new techniques and 7
Entering a national park by boat, Bolivia
8. approaches evolving every year. A wide variety
of stakeholders must be involved in its implementation
– including business, government, non-governmental
organizations and local communities. Responsible
businesses must be encouraged to manage tourists
properly with guidelines, certification and regulation.
And local destinations must be ready to properly
fund ecotourism management, or they will risk
damaging their natural and cultural resources and,
ultimately, their position in a rapidly growing
international market.
Local communities have the most at stake,
and therefore the most to lose, in the emerging
international ecotourism marketplace.
As globalization makes local economic control
increasingly difficult, ecotourism seeks to reverse
this trend by stressing that local business owners
and local communities must be vitally involved.
Opportunities to involve rural communities in tourism
have attracted attention and raised many
expectations, but the risks are great unless proper
preparations are made. Local people must be
informed in advance of all the possible consequences
of tourism development, and they must formally
consent to development in their areas.
The underlying concepts and principles behind
ecotourism have helped set new standards
for the tourism industry, and these standards
continue to evolve. Many aspects still need to be fully
addressed during implementation, and as answers
to some of these questions arise from the field,
the quick global dissemination of results is a priority.
This document provides a short introduction
to ecotourism, providing a look at the progress made
in the last decade, and what will be needed to make
it sustainable in the future.
This report is not intended to be academic in format
or style. References used are catalogued in the list
of resource documents at the end of the book along
with a list of resource organizations.
8
Rain forest canopy walkway, Malaysia
Local ecotourism project, Belize
9. What is Ecotourism?
Ecotourism has been defined as a form of
nature-based tourism in the marketplace, but
it has also been formulated and studied
as a sustainable development tool by NGOs,
development experts and academics since 1990.
The term ecotourism, therefore, refers on one hand
to a concept under a set of principles, and
on the other hand to a specific market segment.
The International Ecotourism Society (TIES)
(previously known as The Ecotourism Society (TES))
in 1991 produced one of the earliest definitions:
“Ecotourism is responsible travel to natural areas
that conserves the environment and sustains the well
being of local people.”
IUCN (now called the World Conservation Union)
states in 1996 that ecotourism:
“is environmentally responsible travel and
visitation to relatively undisturbed natural areas,
in order to enjoy and appreciate nature (and any
accompanying cultural features - both past and
present) that promotes conservation, has low
negative visitor impact, and provides for beneficially
active socio-economic involvement of local
populations.”
Ecotourism as a Concept
Ecotourism is a sub-component of the field
of sustainable tourism. Figure 1 offers a reflection
of where ecotourism can be placed within
the process of developing more sustainable forms
of tourism. This figure also provides a demonstration
of how ecotourism is primarily a sustainable version
of nature tourism, while including rural and cultural
tourism elements.
Ecotourism aspires in all cases to achieve
sustainable development results. However,
it is important to clarify that all tourism activities
– be they geared to holidays, business, conferences,
congresses or fairs, health, adventure or
ecotourism – should aim to be sustainable.
This means that the planning and development
of tourism infrastructure, its subsequent operation
and also its marketing should focus on environmental,
social, cultural and economic sustainability criteria.
9
Jaguar Preserve, Belize
10. The strong orientation of the ecotourism field toward
the evolution of principles, guidelines, and certification
based on sustainability standards gives it an unusual
position in the tourism field. Over the years, discussion
in conferences has provided a general consensus
on the components of ecotourism (as seen in box
above).
Ecotourism as a Market Segment
Ecotourism is a small but rapidly growing industry
working within a niche market that is governed by
market forces and regulations. Ecotourism is primarily
advertised as being equivalent to nature tourism
in the marketplace. Some countries, companies and
destinations have social and environmental policies
and programs, while others do not. This has led
to confusion worldwide about the meaning of the term
ecotourism as it is applied in the marketplace. Further
discussion of guidelines and accreditation systems
relating to sustainability criteria for the ecotourism
industry can be found later in this chapter.
Figure 2 provides a reflection of how ecotourism fits
into the larger tourism marketplace. Both adventure
10
Components of Ecotourism
• Contributes to conservation of biodiversity.
• Sustains the well being of local people.
• Includes an interpretation / learning experience.
• Involves responsible action on the part of tourists and the tourism industry.
• Is delivered primarily to small groups by small-scale businesses.
• Requires lowest possible consumption of non-renewable resources.
• Stresses local participation, ownership and business opportunities, particularly for rural people.
11. tourism and ecotourism are shown as subcomponents
of nature tourism, while ecotourism has stronger links
to rural and cultural tourism than adventure tourism.
In ecotourism the prime motivation is the observation
and appreciation of natural features and related
cultural assets, whereas in adventure tourism
it is rather the physical exercise and challenging
situations in natural environments.
From a functional viewpoint, ecotourism in the
marketplace is mostly individual or small-scale
tourism (tour groups up to 25, and hotels with less
than 100 beds) that is operated by small- and medium-
sized companies in natural areas. It represents
a segment of the marketplace that concentrates
on leading and accommodating small groups
in natural areas in an educational manner using
interpretive materials and local specialist guides.
The Roots of Ecotourism
With a history deeply rooted in the conservation
movement, ecotourism has provided a highly strategic
source of revenue to natural areas that need
protection. Ecotourism began as an untested idea
that many hoped could contribute to the conservation
of natural resources worldwide. Research undertaken
in Kenya in the 1970s (Thresher 1981) demonstrated
that the economic benefits of wildlife tourism far
surpassed hunting – an activity that was banned
in Kenya in 1977. In the early 1980s, rain forests and
coral reefs became the subject of both innumerable
studies by biologists interested in biological diversity
and of a plethora of nature film documentaries. This
interest helped launch a wide variety of local small
businesses specializing in guiding scientists
and filmmakers into remote zones. As these small
businesses quickly began to prosper in countries such
as Costa Rica and Ecuador, a more formal industry
soon evolved to meet the needs of small tourism
groups that were primarily composed of birdwatchers
and committed naturalists. In many areas of the world,
pioneer entrepreneurs created special field visits and
studies for adult travelers, students and volunteers.
International nature-based businesses began
to thrive in the 1980s with the growing interest
in outdoor travel and the environment, spurred
by excellent new outdoor equipment for camping
and hiking, and events such as Earth Day. These
companies began to realize that they could take the
initiative to conserve the environment by sponsoring 11
12. local conservation groups in the destinations they
visited or by raising funds for local causes. They soon
learned that training and hiring local people to run
their businesses was the best way to manage their
operations, and an excellent way of creating
significant benefits for local people. Tour operators
selling trips to the Galapagos Islands, Costa Rica,
Kenya and Nepal were some of the early players
in this movement. Some of these companies argue
that, in fact, they had already been using ecotourism
principles for some 20 to 30 years.
Because so many individuals with unique ideas and
creative approaches are involved, it is rarely carried
out the same way twice. Ecotourism is a business
and can be profitable, but it should be a responsible
business that aims to meet higher social and
environmental goals. As such, ecotourism is highly
dependent on the commitment of individual business
owners who must be willing to apply a unique set
of standards to their business approaches – standards
that have only evolved in the last 10 years. The fact
that no international regulatory body exists, and that
standards in the field of ecotourism are quite difficult
to measure, has allowed businesses and governments
to promote ecotourism without any oversight.
Many travel and tourism businesses have found
it convenient to use the term “ecotourism” in their
literature, and governments have used the term
extensively to promote their destinations, all without
trying to implement any of the most basic principles
explained in this document. This problem
of “greenwashing” has undermined the legitimacy
of the term ecotourism. Some greenwashing, though
certainly not all, is the result of a lack of understanding
of the underlying principles of ecotourism.
International conferences, workshops and
publications have made some advances in educating
governments and businesses about ecotourism,
but the misuse of the term remains a problem
worldwide.
Many people often ask why ecotourism should be
viewed differently from other forms of sustainable
tourism. In essence, ecotourism must be planned
and managed to successfully offer its key social
and environmental objectives. This requires:
12
Tourists enjoying tea house, Nepal
Birdwatchers in wetlands, Philippines
13. 1. Specialized marketing to attract travelers who are
primarily interested in visiting natural areas.
2. Management skills that are particular to handling
visitors in protected natural areas.
3. Guiding and interpretation services, preferably
managed by local inhabitants, that are focused
on natural history and sustainable development
issues.
4. Government policies that earmark fees from
tourism to generate funds for both conservation
of wild lands and sustainable development of local
communities and indigenous people.
5. Focused attention on local peoples, who must be
given the right of prior informed consent, full
participation and, if they so decide, given
the means and training to take advantage
of this sustainable development option.
Principles of Ecotourism
Because ecotourism was originally just an idea,
not a discipline, many businesses and governments
promoted it without an understanding of its most
basic principles. Establishing internationally
and nationally accepted principles, guidelines
and certification approaches proceeded throughout
the 1990s but at a modest pace, because the process
involves stakeholders from many regions,
disciplines and backgrounds. Each region affected
by ecotourism should develop its own principles,
guidelines and certification procedures based
on the materials already available internationally.
This process of creating international certification
guidelines is far from being completed.
The International Ecotourism Society has tracked
the results of stakeholder meetings since 1991
to develop the set of principles on page 14, which are
being embraced by a growing constituency of NGOs,
private sector businesses, governments, academia
and local communities.
Once principles have been agreed upon, specific
guidelines can be developed that help define
the market’s best possible performance. Guidelines
offer practical approaches to achieving sustainable
development results, as gleaned from survey
research on best practices and stakeholder meetings
among researchers, the private sector, NGOs and
local communities. International review finalizes
the guidelines process, helping to assure that a wide
variety of viewpoints are incorporated.
As ecotourism guidelines are being developed,
it is important to consider some issues that may not
be fully addressed by practitioners globally, such as:
1. The amount of control that traditional/indigenous
communities retain when ecotourism is developed
in natural areas that they manage or inhabit.
2. The efficiency and social fairness of current
concepts of protected areas (which are central 13
Tourist viewing Mt Kilimanjaro, Kenya
14. to ecotourism) for long-term conservation
of biological and cultural diversity.
3. The risk that unregulated tourists contribute to
lowering genetic capital and traditional knowledge
belonging to traditional communities; i.e. biopiracy.
4. How to balance the needs of medium- and large-
scale investors, often outsiders to local
communities, with local expectations
in participation with small-scale efforts
for community-based tourism.
Ecotourism Guidelines for Nature Tour Operators was
published in 1993 by The International Ecotourism
Society, setting a standard for this sector of
the industry. These guidelines have been distributed
worldwide, and reprinted by dozens of organizations
in numerous languages. Evaluation forms reveal
that they have widespread acceptance from
the industry, NGOs and academics. TIES will publish
guidelines for ecolodges and marine ecotourism
in 2002.
The Association for Ecological Tourism
in Europe published recommendations in 1997
for environmentally oriented tour operators, and
many local organizations, such as Alianza Verde
in the Guatemalan region of the Peten, have
developed ecotourism guidelines for all stakeholders
with a local approach. Development of guidelines
around the world has been a useful step to help
local stakeholders address questions of how
to develop ecotourism in local communities,
ecosystems or in specific sectors of the industry,
such as accommodations or tour operations.
This can help to solve the problem of greenwashing,
but ultimately, certification will be a fundamental
tool to ensure businesses are meeting ecotourism
standards.
Efforts to certify ecotourism are in their infancy.
Certifying ecotourism industries involves gathering
data from companies on their environmental and
social performance, and then verifying these data.
As ecotourism further defines itself through its
stakeholders and in the marketplace, many
questions remain about how well ecotourism can
be certified, given that ecotourism businesses
are small, highly dispersed and regional in character.
Many are found in developing countries, where
monitoring services and even communication
systems may not be available. Ecotourism enterprises14
Principles of Ecotourism
• Minimize the negative impacts on nature and culture that
can damage a destination.
• Educate the traveler on the importance of conservation.
• Stress the importance of responsible business, which
works cooperatively with local authorities and people to
meet local needs and deliver conservation benefits.
• Direct revenues to the conservation and management of
natural and protected areas.
• Emphasize the need for regional tourism zoning and for
visitor management plans designed for either regions or
natural areas that are slated to become eco-destinations.
• Emphasize use of environmental and social base-line
studies, as well as long-term monitoring programs, to
assess and minimize impacts.
• Strive to maximize economic benefit for the host country,
local business and communities, particularly peoples
living in and adjacent to natural and protected areas.
• Seek to ensure that tourism development does not
exceed the social and environmental limits of acceptable
change as determined by researchers in cooperation with
local residents.
• Rely on infrastructure that has been developed in
harmony with the environment, minimizing use of fossil
fuels, conserving local plants and wildlife, and blending
with the natural and cultural environment.
15. 15
Nature Tour Operator Guidelines
• Prepare travelers. One reason consumers choose an operator rather than travel independently is to receive guidance: How can
negative impacts be minimized while visiting sensitive environments and cultures? How should one interact with local cultures?
What is an appropriate response to begging? Is bartering encouraged?
• Minimize visitor impacts. Prevent degradation of the environment and/or the local culture by offering literature, briefings,
leading by example and taking corrective actions. To minimize accumulated impacts, use adequate leadership and maintain
small groups to ensure minimum group-impacts on destination. Avoid areas that are under-managed and over-visited.
• Minimize nature tour company impacts. Ensure managers, staff and contract employees know and participate in all aspects of
company policy that prevent impacts on the environment and local cultures.
• Provide training. Give managers, staff and contract employees access to programs that will upgrade their ability to
communicate with and manage clients in sensitive natural and cultural settings.
• Contribute to conservation. Fund conservation programs in the regions being visited.
• Provide competitive local employment. Employ locals in all aspects of business operations.
• Offer site-sensitive accommodations. Ensure that facilities are not destructive to the natural environment and particularly
that they do not waste local resources. Design structures that offer ample opportunity for learning about the environment and
that encourage sensitive interchanges with local communities.
The International Ecotourism Society, Ecotourism Guidelines for Nature Tour Operators, 1993
Proposed Guidelines for Successful Ecotourism Certification
• Indicators for sustainability must be arrived at by research of appropriate parameters based on current best practice.
• Indicators for sustainability must be reviewed and approved via a stakeholder process.
• Indicators for sustainability must be arrived at for each segment of the industry, e.g. hotels, tour operators, transportation
systems, etc.
• Indicators for sustainability will vary according to region and must be arrived at via local stakeholder participation and
research.
• Certification programs require independent verification procedures that are not directly associated with the entity being paid
to certify. University involvement is ideal for this process.
• Certification programs, particularly for the small ecotourism business sector, are unlikely to pay for themselves through fees,
and will need national, regional or international subsidization.
• Certification programs can be given to the operating entity, but should specify the products or locations that fulfill relevant
criteria as certified.
• Certification should be ground tested before full-fledged implementation to ensure all systems are properly in line, due to the
difficulty of verifying appropriate performance standards without advance testing.
Epler Wood and Halpenny, Ecolabels in Tourism, 2001
16. are operating on a small scale and are probably
best evaluated using criteria designed for their style
of enterprise.
Efforts to certify ecotourism businesses have been
led by Australia, which established a research
program in 1994 and launched a federally funded
initiative in 1996 that is the only ecotourism-specific
certification program in the world.
Regardless of whether global certification
programs are developed for ecotourism or for more
general sustainable tourism, international
guidelines detailing how to develop and manage
such certification programs are urgently needed.
The proposed guidelines for ecotourism certification,
seen on page 15, were developed for a publication
on ecolabels by TIES staff and for circulation
to leading researchers worldwide for further
comment.
16
Ecotourism Certification – A Case Study from Australia
Australia s National Ecotourism Accreditation Program (NEAP) is an industry initiative of the Ecotourism Association
of Australia, with funding from the Office of National Tourism. NEAP was revised and relaunched in March 2000 with a new sub-
program for nature-based tourism. Its accreditation now has three levels: nature tourism, ecotourism and advanced ecotourism.
A performance-based accreditation program, NEAP requires that products of program participants achieve specific goals
that are classified under specific categories: natural area focus, interpretation, ecological sustainability, contributions
to conservation, work with local communities, cultural component, client satisfaction and responsible marketing. To attain
the ecotourism accreditation level, the product must meet all core criteria in each category. Achieving advanced ecotourism
status requires that the product meet 80% of bonus criteria.
The tourism operator or facility owner must complete an extensive form that addresses each criteria. In its first phase, NEAP
was entirely dependent on the honesty of the applicant. But the new program launched in March 2000 will develop mechanisms
for random auditing of products. The greatest limitation of the NEAP program, according to research, is the poor consumer
recognition of the program and its labels; as of January 2000, Australia had accredited 237 NEAP products. This program only
certifies products, not tour operators or facilities.
Adapted from Buckley, Ecolabels in Tourism, 2001
TIES Guidelines.
17. The Ecotourism Experience
Ecotourism is a travel experience, first and
foremost, that helps travelers come to a better
understanding of unique natural and cultural
environments around the world. Hundreds
of specialized tours and lodges now exist in natural
areas that allow small groups to see unique
environments and cultures with local guides.
These guides are trained to interpret the cultural
and environmental settings that visitors are coming
to discover. They also focus on helping travelers
develop better instincts on how to travel and how
to properly contribute toward environmental
conservation, cultural survival and other important
sustainable development issues. Finally, small
ecotourism groups are informed how to minimize
their environmental and cultural impacts.
The ecotourism experiences that have seen
the most success evolved from the innovations
of scientists, architects and local community
leaders.
For example:
• Wildlife field researchers made many breakthroughs
in studying wildlife species in the 1980s, working
with unique species such as whales, turtles, mountain
gorillas, orangutans, macaws and harpy eagles.
A variety of specialized tours were developed to bring
visitors for the first time to these field locations to see
these species. Many of these trips were originally
in very rustic field stations, and travelers paid a fee
to support conservation and research initiatives.
As the programs evolved, a great deal of effort was
placed in designing the tours to prevent impacts
on the wildlife and culture of the regions.
• Research breakthroughs in fields such as tropical
ecology, ethnobotany, whale and primate ecology,
and the archeology of ancient civilizations have
motivated travelers to meet the scientists involved
and to help with research. Workshops and other
educational programs now allow tourists to take
part in intensive field seminars with the scientists
themselves – and at the same time help pay
for the research.
• Innovative entrepreneurs and architects began
to design specialized low-impact lodges that allowed
travelers to stay in relative comfort while having
magnificent wildlife-viewing opportunities at their
doorstep. Ecolodges specializing in innovative
approaches that minimally impacted the natural
environment were built on every continent, many
powered by alternative energy, designed in harmony 17
Blue and gold macaw
18. with the local environment, and using local materials
and indigenous designs.
• Local people became shareholders and owners
of ecolodges or nature inns, or ran local community-
based ecotours. Community-run ecotourism
programs emerged around the world, offering
travelers the opportunity to learn about different
cultures, the social and cultural threats that local
people face, and their understanding of local ecology.
These programs can assist local communities
with health care, education and with maintaining
local traditions.
• In rural environments with rich natural resources,
especially in Europe, ecotourism can be a sustainable
alternative to dwindling agriculture revenues, offering
visitors a natural and rural experience and partially
reversing economic deterioration.
Environmental Awareness and Ecotourism
All this fresh interest in the environment and local
cultures has created a dynamic economic engine
that can spur healthy economic growth in under-
developed areas, but also may result in unsustainable
growth followed by rapid downturns, called
“boom-bust” cycles. Past history has shown that
the boom-bust syndrome – in locations such
as Hawaii or coastal Spain – were very destructive
to the environment and for the local economy.
Such economic cycles should be avoided, and are
the antithesis of building a healthy and sustainable18
Mayan ruins, Mexico
19. economy that benefits local people in the long term.
Statistics and research confirm that an increasing
number of travelers will be reaching remote
ecotourism destinations with greater ease, at less
cost and faster than ever before, indicating that some
ecotourism destinations may become vulnerable
to the exact same boom-bust cycles that have
plagued more accessible destinations in the past.
While a variety of lifestyle research studies show
that travelers are concerned about environmental
conservation and the welfare of local people, their
travel choices do not appear to be based on these
outlooks. The consumers’ need to make responsible
travel choices is increasingly pivotal to the success
of ecotourism objectives, making it highly important
that they understand precisely what a good
ecotourism experience is. Consumer education
campaigns, such as The International Ecotourism
Society’s Your Travel Choice Can Make A Difference,
help travelers distinguish between enterprises
and destinations that make no effort to conserve,
limit growth or benefit local people, and those that do.
Consumer education and guidelines for the selection
of ecotourism experiences will strengthen
the legitimate ecotourism marketplace and diminish
the effectiveness of false claims of environmental
and social responsibility (i.e. greenwashing).
The Number of Ecotourists
Because ecotourism is defined by its objectives
to conserve nature and contribute to local people,
it has been difficult to measure. As yet, no in-depth
studies have attempted to determine how many nature
tourists are actually motivated to make travel
decisions based on ecotourism principles. Ecotourism
is widely researched as nature tourism, leading
to false assumptions on the size of the market.
Research on nature tourism has shown that as much
as 50% of the total travel market wants to visit
a natural area during a trip, which might include
a short day stop in a national park. While this is a very
19
Aerial of ecolodge, Ecuador
20. large market, it is quite different from the market that
is actually motivated to travel in small groups, learn
about wildlife and culture with a local guide, and help
support local conservation and sustainable
development.
An extremely rough estimate of the world’s
international ecotourism arrivals would be seven
percent of the tourism market (Lindberg 1997),
or approximately 45 million arrivals in 1998 and
70 million expected for 2010. To this, one must add
the substantial number of domestic visitors
to natural areas.
Key ecotourism destinations have reported dramatic
increases in visits to protected and other natural
areas. Ecotourists have always been strongly
attracted to national parks and protected areas. While
simply visiting a park or natural area is nature tourism
– not ecotourism – visitor trends to parks give
an indication of the growth of ecotourism as well.
Surveys from the early 1990s began to register
the dramatic growth in tourism to national parks
in important ecotourism markets – showing
an important shift in tourism preferences from
the traditional destinations of Europe to a broader
range of nature destinations, primarily in developing
countries. Foreign visitors to Costa Rica’s parks
skyrocketed from 65,000 in 1982 to 273,000 in 1991
– a 30% annual increase.
Other countries quickly began to note similar trends.
Australia undertook a thorough survey of its nature-
based tourists in 1995 (Blamey & Hatch 1998) and
these results strongly confirmed that national parks
and reserves have “high appeal” among international
visitors to Australia. Of the 1.7 million foreign visitors
to Australia in 1995, 50% visited at least one national
park during their stay – a 10% increase over
the previous year.
Many other nature-based destinations have
documented high growth rates throughout the 1990s
(see the following table).
In preparation for 2002, designated by the United
20
Visitation Rates to Nature-based Destinations
Country 1990 1999 Total % Average
Increase Increase Annual
South Africa 1,029,000 6,026,000 486% 19.3%
Costa Rica 435,000 1,027,000 136% 9.0%
Indonesia 2,178,000 4,700,000 116% 8.0%
Belize* 88,000 157,000 78% 6.0%
Ecuador 362,000 509,000 41% 3.5%
Botswana* 543,000 740,000 36% 3.1%
* Visitation rates available only from 1990 to 1998.
World Tourism Organization, Tourism Highlights 2000, 2000
21. Nations as the International Year of Ecotourism, the
World Tourism Organization is conducting market
surveys in some European countries, with results
available in late 2001.
Ecotourist Demographics
At present, hundreds of independent nature tourism
companies in the U.S. and Canada handle well over
one billion dollars in annual sales. A number
of research studies provide excellent information
on the clientele of North American companies,
providing demographics and information on nature
tourist motivations. Based on data collected by HLA
and ARA Consulting firms, it has been possible
to construct a nature tourist market profile of North
American travel consumers seen on page 22.
A portion of this market is undoubtedly ecotourism
in design and implementation, but it is still unknown
how much. In well-documented ecotourism
destinations – including Costa Rica, Ecuador, Belize,
South Africa, Kenya, Botswana and Nepal –
hundreds of tour operators and lodges receive
nature tourists from around the world, but
no ecotourism market research is yet available
in published literature on these destinations, though
all these countries do provide data on their nature
tourism market.
European statistics do not provide clear data
on the nature tourism market, even though demand
for environmentally friendly products is clearly
demonstrated there. Research indicates that
Europeans are more likely to seek out rural tourism
in Europe rather than nature tourism, because most
of the European natural environment is not
a wilderness landscape (Blangy & Vautier 2001).
Northern Europeans in particular have consistently
shown interest in tourism with high standards of
sustainability as part of the package they purchase,
and nature tourism is strongly developing as an
outbound market for these countries and for England.
Although Europe is a vital tourist market, little data is
available on European interests or attitudes towards
nature-based travel or ecotourism. Australian
research (Blamey 1998) on its inbound nature-based
market demonstrates that a high percentage
of German (20%), Swiss (23%) and Scandinavian (18%)
tourists were interested in Australia because
of its nature-based outdoor activities. The European
market interest in nature travel exceeded any other
inbound market, including the U.S and Canada.
This clearly indicates that Europe will be an important
nature tourism outbound market, if European market
research begins to identify nature and ecotourism
as a category of research.
More research on the ecotourism market is
necessary to better define what portion of the large
and growing nature tourism market will most likely
respond to social and environmental approaches and
be willing to pay for them. Research shows that while
consumers support environmental issues, they have 21
Birdwatchers with guide, Peru
22. been more enthusiastic about expressing their
concern in surveys than about purchasing green
products (Ackerstein & Lemon 1999). Future market
research should distinguish between nature tourism
and ecotourism, which requires a more sophisticated
survey instrument that examines lifestyles and
a consumer’s willingness to pay for environmental
and social sustainability approaches, not simply
the activities the tourist has participated in.
The question that remains is how many tourists
in the 21st
century will be willing to pay for
environmentally and socially designed ecotourism
programs. Such research will assist practitioners
in designing programs for this market.
Explanation of an Ecotour
Today, many responsible ecotour operators are
working successfully around the globe to create
well-planned, interactive learning experiences that
introduce small groups of travelers to new
environments and cultures, while minimizing
negative environmental impacts and supporting
conservation efforts. These service providers
can be local or international, and range from
seasonal community-run and family operations
to medium-scale outbound operators with yearly
revenues in the millions of dollars.
However, most countries probably have more tour
operators that do not follow responsible guidelines
than those that do. Additionally, tour operators have
been hesitant to develop their own reporting systems,
making it difficult to statistically document
ecotourism’s overall performance. One progressive
example of ecotourism certification standards,
however, is Australia’s National Ecotourism
Assessment Program, with nearly 200 operator
and lodge owner participants.
Case study evidence from the field shows that
ecotour operators are seeking to provide small
– to medium – sized donations to small NGOs
operating in their destinations, and to assist with
the development of new regional organizations
that advocate sustainable tourism policies. Funds are
primarily given for land conservation and community
development.
22
Nature Tourist Market Profile
• Age: 35-54 years old, although age varies with activity
and other factors such as cost.
• Gender: 50% female and 50% male, although clear
differences by activity were found.
• Education: 82% were college graduates.
• Household Composition: No major differences were found
between general tourists and experienced nature
tourists*.
• Party Composition: A majority (60%) of experienced
nature tourist respondents stated they prefer to travel
as a couple, with only 15% stating they prefer to travel
with their families, and 13% preferring to travel alone.
• Trip Duration: The largest group of experienced nature
tourists (50%) preferred trips lasting 8–14 days.
• Expenditure: Experienced nature tourists were willing
to spend more than general tourists, the largest group
(26%) stating they were prepared to spend
$1,001–$1,500 per trip.
• Important Elements of Trip: Experienced nature tourists
top three responses were (1) a wilderness setting,
(2) wildlife viewing, and (3) hiking/trekking.
• Motivations for Taking Next Trip: Experienced nature
tourists top two responses were (1) to enjoy
scenery/nature, and (2) new experiences/places.
* Experienced nature tourists were tourists that had been on at least
one ecotourism oriented trip. Ecotourism was defined in this study
as nature/adventure/culture-oriented travel. This research included
both domestic and international travel.
HLA and ARA Consulting, 1994. Wight 1996a, 1996b.
23. A survey of The International Ecotourism Society’s
supporting members in 1998 revealed that small
donations equalling US$1 million were given
by leading tour operators to locally run NGOs
in the 1990s, while at the same time many owner/
operators helped establish regional associations
that advocate for sustainable tourism policies,
such as the Alaska Wildland Recreation and
Tourism Association in Alaska, U.S., the Galapagos
Tour Operator Association in Ecuador, and
the Asociacion de Kayakismo y Ecoturismo in Baja,
Mexico. Other owner operators supported indigenous
organizations through specially designed NGOs,
such as Fundacion Pachamama and Accion
Amazonia in Ecuador, both founded in the mid-1990s.
While others gave directly to land conservation
initiatives and protected areas, such as two Costa
Rica-based tour operators who donated $25,000
to the Costa Rica Park Service in the early 1990s
to help with a funding crises, and a U.S.-based tour
operator that helped establish the ACEER Foundation
in the Peruvian Amazon which has conserved
over 100,000 hectares of rain forest for biodiversity
research through private donations and tourism
activities.
Ecotourism operators also directly support
protected areas through gate fees. A 1994
international survey of protected areas showed
that developing countries receive 54% of their
revenue from tourism entrance fees (Giongo 1993).
In Rwanda in the 1980s, tour operators paid $170
per client for small groups visiting mountain gorillas,
23
Characteristics of A Good Ecotour
• Provides information prior to the trip on the culture and environments to be visited.
• Offers guidelines on appropriate dress and behavior in writing before departure and verbally during the tour.
• Offers in-depth briefing upon tourist s arrival of the destination s geographical, social and political characteristics, as well
as its environmental, social and political challenges.
• Offers in-depth guiding throughout the trip with well-trained local guides.
• Offers the opportunity to meet and interact with local communities in a setting that is clearly not just a commercial venue
for shopping or sales.
• Develops an understanding of both the local people s daily life and traditions, and the types of issues that are appropriate
to discuss, well in advance of community interactions.
• Provides opportunity for contributions to local NGOs.
• Ensures that all park entry fees are paid in full.
• Offers site-sensitive accommodations.
Overcrowding of tents, Nepal
24. resulting in more than $1 million in annual revenue
to the Parc de Volcans. This was achieved while
the park strictly limited the number of visitors and
devoted funds to environmental education efforts
across the country (Lindberg 1991).
Well-regulated protected areas, such as
the Galapagos Islands of Ecuador, have directly
benefited from entry fees paid by nature and
ecotourism companies on behalf of their clients
and also from license fees for boats. In 1998, nearly
65,000 travelers visited the Galapagos Islands,
with Ecuadorian nationals paying $6 to enter
and foreigners paying $80. Visitor entrance fees
totaled $4.3 million in that year, averaging
$66 per visitor.
Largely because of the Galapagos Islands’ entry fees,
Ecuador’s national park service has been able to
manage this world heritage ecosystem while limiting
visitation to reasonable numbers, requiring high-
quality guiding services by local people, maintaining
control of which islands and trails are visited
by travelers, and providing some support to park
management throughout the country. At the same
time, Ecuadorians are able to visit and learn about
their valuable natural heritage at a very equitable
price, which has undoubtedly influenced many
young people in the country to become involved
in conservation.
Ecotours offer highly educational visits to the great
natural destinations on the planet. Tour operators
have been proactive in many instances by using
their clout, time and revenue to support destinations.
Fee systems are one of the most important ways
that ecotourism operators can ensure that protected
areas visited by their clients are properly valued
by governments. It is highly important, however, that
fees gathered by governments are directed toward
the conservation and management of the protected
areas that ecotourists are visiting.
24
Site for ecolodge, Egypt
25. Explanation of an Eco-destination
Ecotourists typically look for experiences that
provide a sense of closeness to the natural
attractions and local communities that first brought
them to a destination. Any destination that seeks
to attract these tourists must protect its resources
while facilitating a sense of integration with
the local community. It is commonly but incorrectly
thought that the private sector is exclusively
responsible for protecting the environment and
local communities. But in fact, intervention of other
stakeholders at the regional and national level
is required. First and foremost, governments are
responsible for planning, policy-making and zoning,
which helps ensure that destinations are not
overbuilt. Governments also are responsible for
waste and water treatment systems and energy
resources. As such, it is in their best interest
to require more sustainable and environmentally
sound approaches. If no effective regulation
or enforcement of environmental laws exists,
and if natural areas are developed without foresight,
facilities will be improperly constructed in certain
instances. Even in remote areas, where ecotourism
is often developed, it is still necessary to set
development standards that are approved
in coordination with local stakeholders, particularly
representatives of local communities.
If mega-tourism complexes are planned with built-up,
walled-in complexes, golf courses, “guests-only”
clubs, and “plantation-style” service, these same
areas cannot be expected to be appropriate
for ecotourism. The concept of an eco-destination
is new, and no guidelines have been written for it.
It emerged precisely because governments sought
to promote ecotourism in destinations that already
had been developed without any of the basic
principles that might attract an ecotourist, and
at times without respect for the environment or local
communities. The worst examples of this type
of destination development have been reported
from Southeast Asia, where in one case, millions
of ethnic peoples were resettled from their
homelands and compensated with so-called
“ecotourism” jobs in new locations. This was
clearly not true ecotourism and shows how
ecotourism can be mislabeled and mishandled
by governments.
The planning and management of a destination
will determine how well ecotourism can thrive 25
Entrance Fee Contribution to Protected
Areas – A Case Study from Zimbabwe,
India and Indonesia
A study undertaken by the International Institute
for Environment and Development examined the current
and potential tourism contributions to three national
parks: Gonarezhou of Zimbabwe, Keoladeo of India,
and Komodo of Indonesia.
While in each of these cases tourism was the greatest
source of revenue, the actual financial contribution
of entrance fees to park finances was minimal and in two
of the parks the net contribution was negative. Government
funding was actually subsidizing tourism. Because entrance
fees provided a substantial proportion of tourism revenues,
the study endorsed raising the fees to ensure that the cost
of tourism was covered and that it would also contribute
funds to conservation. The survey in Keoladeo National
Park outlined that tourists would in fact pay more and
the authors suggested raising park fees as the best
management option.
Tourism can contribute to conservation in protected
areas, but it needs to be effectively managed. This study
shows that the economic impacts can also be evaluated
to determine opportunities for greater benefit.
Goodwin et al, 1997
26. there. However, it is still extremely rare to see
integrated regional tourism planning and
management, not to mention strategies that
highlight ecological and social considerations.
The planning of an eco-destination depends
on baseline data of social and environmental factors,
zoning strategies, regulations that can prevent
deliberate abuse of fragile ecosystems, local
participation in developing a set of standards
for limits of acceptable change, and long-term
monitoring.
Once clear planning for development takes place,
it is much more plausible that individual
businesses can succeed at their goals of offering
environmentally sensitive tours and lodging
that provide benefits to local communities.
Management is absolutely required at the destination
to ensure the long-term harmony of tours and lodges
with the people and environment of the region.
26
Eco-destination Characteristics
• Natural features conserved within a protected landscape.
• Low density development, where natural areas are abundant and the built landscape does not dominate.
• Evidence that tourism is not harming natural systems such as waterways, coastal areas, wetlands and wildlife areas.
• Thriving small community businesses, including food stands and other types of craft enterprises owned by local people.
• Plenty of designated outdoor recreation zones that are designed to protect fragile resources, including bike paths, trails
or boardwalks that are shared by locals and visitors alike.
• Thriving, locally owned lodges, hotels, restaurants and businesses that provide genuine hospitality with friendly, motivated
staff.
• A variety of local festivals and events that demonstrate an on-going sense of pride in the local community s natural
environment and cultural heritage.
• Clean and basic public facilities for tourists and locals to share, such as public showers and toilets.
• Friendly interaction between local people and visitors in natural meeting places, such as local shops or benches by the sea.
Eco-destination Planning Guidelines
• Master plans for the entire tourism development region
should specify green zones, trails, walking paths,
public access areas, and clear rules on the density
of development allowed in residential and commercial
zones.
• Zones for tourism use should be clearly designated,
as are zones inappropriate for tourism use.
• Visitor management plans and procedures should
incorporate public comment during design and
implementation phases, with monitoring programs
that allow for regular discussion of tourism use and
the correction of problems when they occur.
• Full stakeholder consultation should take place
on the type of tourism development (if any) desired by
local communities, utilizing local neutral intermediaries
who understand the community s viewpoints and will not
advocate a particular development approach. This process
must give the community adequate time to consider
its options, with outside counsel and representation
available on request.
• Integrated natural resource planning should offer
residents a variety of sustainable economic development
alternatives beyond ecotourism.
27. Explanation of an Ecolodge
The term “ecolodge” was formally launched
in the marketplace at the First International Ecolodge
Forum and Field Seminar held in 1994 at Maho Bay
Camps in the U.S. Virgin Islands. Formal dialogue
at this conference resulted in The Ecolodge
Sourcebook for Planners and Developers (Hawkins
et al 1995). The first International Ecolodge
Guidelines (Mehta et al, in press) are the result
of a 1995 international conference in Costa Rica
and five years of research and international review.
This is the first book to offer a definitive international
definition of an ecolodge.
It must be stressed that an ecolodge’s value
is as much in its setting as its structures. Ecolodges
need a well-protected setting that is not plagued
by over-development or resource destruction issues.
The value of an ecotourism property rises and falls
with its ability to protect substantial biodiversity,
wildlife and pristine landscapes. Many ecolodges
have established their own private reserves, enabling
them to directly manage the natural resources
they depend on for their business.
Ecolodges can be extremely rustic or very
luxurious. Accommodations in general for
the ecotourism industry are usually mid-range
27
Eco-destination Management Guidelines
• Provide adequate budgets to conserve popular tourist
areas, and earmark tourism fees for conservation.
• Tourism businesses should pay impact fees that fund
the infrastructure for solid waste treatment, sewage
treatment capacity, electricity and water, because their
guests will require these services. Tourism properties
should receive clear incentives for conserving electricity
and water.
• Environmental impact assessment programs should be
followed by impact monitoring programs. These programs
should be tied to business licensing and certification
systems.
• Well-managed trails and camping areas should provide
clearly marked rules for low-impact use.
• Published and recognized rules or regulations for public
lands should detail the type of vehicles permitted
in specific zones, speed limits, fines for dumping
or pollution, clear rules for limiting off-road driving,
oversight on the number of visitors allowed in zoned
areas, and instructions on how and when to observe
wildlife. Guidelines should state what is inappropriate.
• Training programs are necessary to provide local
inhabitants with the opportunity to run their own
businesses.
• Affordable housing programs should ensure that local
residents are not excluded from their own communities
due to ballooning real estate prices.
Ecotourism planning workshop, Samoa
28. in price, though the range of accommodation types
is enormous – from luxury tent-camps in Africa,
to backpacker tents in Alaska, to rustic lean-tos
and homestays in Belize, to ranches and haciendas
in Venezuela, to tea houses in Nepal. Live-aboard
boats also are popular, particularly on the Amazon.
High-end small cruise ships that can travel to idyllic
marine environments such as Baja, Mexico,
or Australia’s Great Barrier Reef have also been
extremely successful.
Many lodges offer their own guides and
interpretation walks, as their visitors are frequently
independent travelers that are not traveling with
a tour guide. Often local farmers or indigenous
people with in-depth knowledge of the local flora
and fauna are hired to guide for ecolodges.
Local guides usually are highly motivated by
the unexpected opportunity to interpret the natural
features of their home to outsiders, after years
of surviving by poaching wildlife or laboring
in unsustainable logging, agriculture or oil
exploration. The local guide’s knowledge of the land
goes well beyond what most urban citizens have ever
experienced in their lives, and this gives visitors
a genuine respect for the people and places
they are visiting. The interaction between host28
Ecolodge Definition
An ecolodge is a tourism accommodation facility that meets the following criteria:
• It conserves the surrounding environment, both natural and cultural.
• It has minimal impact on the natural surroundings during construction.
• It fits into its specific physical and cultural contexts through careful attention to form, landscaping and color, as well
as the use of localized architecture.
• It uses alternative, sustainable means of water acquisition and reduces water consumption.
• It provides careful handling and disposal of solid waste and sewage.
• It meets its energy needs through passive design and combines these with their modern counterparts for greater
sustainability.
• It endeavors to work together with the local community.
• It offers interpretative programs to educate both its employees and tourists about the surrounding natural and cultural
environments.
• It contributes to sustainable local development through research programs.
Adapted from Mehta et al, International Ecolodge Guidelines, In Press
Ecolodge Sourcebook
29. and guest can lead to a whole new outlook for local
people on the special nature of where they live.
Other recreation opportunities offered by lodges vary
tremendously depending on the site: game drives,
bird watching, canoeing, horseback riding, bicycling,
beach trips and educational visits to locally run
museums, zoos, butterfly farms, agricultural and
livestock farms, craft production areas and other
natural history and cultural sights. Some high-end
lodges are creating jungle canopy walkways
on their own properties as another guest amenity;
these walkways provide unparalleled opportunities
to explore the life above the rain forest tree-tops
and in the most diverse part of the rain forest.
Coordination of a fulfilling ecotourism itinerary
requires an active working relationship with the local
community. Ecolodges need to work with local guides
and interact with the owners of different tourism
resources – whether these are farms, canoes
or horses – that would provide interesting day
and half-day tours for visitors.
The management and operation of an ecolodge
differs from a mainstream hotel for many reasons.
According to International Ecolodge Guidelines
(Mehta et al, in press), the ecolodge is most often
found in wilderness areas that are the least-
developed, most-remote areas in any country;
therefore, they are the last places to receive
government investments in health, education,
electricity, potable water, roads, etc. This poses
a special challenge to the ecolodge owner
or manager who must achieve sustainable
development by supporting local communities
in a long-term development program and putting
a land-conservation program in place with a minimum
of outside assistance. Education is one of the main
mediums that will create successful ecotourism,
and it falls to the ecotourism owner or manager
to provide it.
Local Vendors
Local vendors in the ecotourism industry include
food stands, restaurants, guiding services, vehicle
rentals, taxis, recreation services (horses, boats
and rafts, bikes, etc.) and craft producers/vendors.
These types of service are most often offered
by local community members. These vendors play
a crucial role in the success of the ecotourism
29
Visitors at ecolodge, Malaysia
Local field guide, Ecuador
30. product and its ability to benefit local communities.
Many times, these businesses are very small and
the owners need encouragement and a small amount
of capital to get started. They can turn to NGOs
or to the ecotourism industry itself to provide
assistance with start-up businesses.
Ecotourism’s economic contribution to local people
must largely be evaluated based on the success of
local vendors. These estimates vary greatly
depending on the destination. Research from Belize
(Lindberg & Enriquez 1994) indicates that more than
40% of local community members see economic
benefits from nearby Hol Chan Marine Reserve,
while Costa Rica studies (Baez & Fernandez 1992)
estimate that less than 10% of local households
benefit from visitors to Tortuguero National Park.
The first location, the village of San Pedro in Belize,
is well-known for a wide variety of small local
businesses, from hotels to bars to clothing shops
– all frequented by divers who have cash to spend.
The second, Tortuguero, is characterized by all-
inclusive lodges where visitors pay in advance,
travel by boat in remote wetlands to view wildlife,
and then simply return to lodges that are not owned
by local people.
The problem of economic leakage is difficult
to evaluate uniformly. In the case of Tortuguero,
no small-scale economy of any kind exists – locals
primarily survive on subsistence fishing, or they may
have worked for nearby banana plantations
in the past. A low diversity of goods in local
communities, long dominated by large-scale
plantations or cattle ranches, hurts their ability
to benefit from ecotourism. In contrast, if tourist
destinations contain more micro-enterprises,
it is more likely that a larger percentage of local
people will benefit.
In areas not characterized by small business, leakage
can be reduced by lease fees, land rental fees, and
other per person usage charges that return to local
residents. In Kenya, the Maasai have long chosen
to continue their pastoral lifestyle despite growing
visitor numbers on or near their lands. They are not
interested in small business, and their culture would
actually be damaged if they were to become local
vendors. In this case, the Maasai have begun30
Ecolodge Management Characteristics
• Provides on-the-job training to community members
and local guides.
• Uses a majority of local staff people, and avoids giving
city-trained or expatriate individuals all of the key
responsibilities.
• Sets up after-hours second-language programs (to assist
staff in speaking the language of visiting guests) using
a local college graduate with expertise in language
training.
• Has guests contribute to staff education and community
development projects involving education or health.
• Encourages interested community members
to communicate their knowledge about the area, while
encouraging local guides to mingle with guests during
communal hours.
• Supports guest learning experiences through visits
to local farms, nurseries, reforestation projects, butterfly
farms and other efforts to promote sustainability
in the region.
• Promotes a system for guests to contribute financially
to the preservation of natural areas in the region.
• Insists on recycling everything from table scraps
to plastics, paper and metal.
• Uses alternative energy wherever possible.
• Uses biodegradable detergents and avoids the use
of toxics whenever possible.
• Does not keep caged or exotic animals on the premises.
Adapted from Lewis, International Ecolodge Guidelines, In Press
31. to charge safari companies leases for the use of their
land, a specialized concession fee that goes toward
community needs. This enables them to continue
with their traditional lifestyle while receiving direct
income from ecotourism companies for the use of their
land. This model has been successful, with Maasai
group ranch managers even publishing annual reports
for the community based on the revenues received
from the fees.
Efforts to improve community entrepreneurship
must therefore be based on local cultural needs.
Local products must also be marketed with value-
added approaches, using attractive packaging
to call attention to the fact they are locally made
or grown. Organic products have received
particularly good reception in the ecotourism
marketplace in such countries as Costa Rica
and Belize. While local vending certainly provides
an important opportunity to generate additional
revenues, it is important that local products are
not undervalued. For example, communities
in Amazonian Peru’s Puerto Maldonado have
many shops and local businesses, but only 26%
of the community receives income, largely because
of the modest nature of the vendors’ products,
and the fact that the backpacker market
that frequents the area puts a low value on
31
Fruit vendor, Tobago
Quinoa bar vendor, Peru
32. the community’s simple services. However, a nearby
lodge in Infierno that was developed for the mid-
priced market has made the community a full partner
in its enterprise, sharing 60% of the profits (Stronza
2000). The lodge is working with the community
to develop a whole range of crafts to sell at the lodge
at higher prices. Clearly this option provides
Infierno’s community with a much improved rate
of return on their efforts and a much better outlook
for their future.
32
Handicrafts and Ecotourism – A Case Study from Nepal, Laos and Indonesia
The study Tourism, the Poor and Other Stakeholders: Experience in Asia, published by Overseas Development Institute (ODI),
notes that the growth of Nepal s handicraft industry was rewarded with nearly 15% of all tourism expenditures in 1990.
In a specific example, tourism gave a boost to craft makers in Nepal s Kullu region, who developed a thriving souvenir industry
with shawls and caps that are now an important export item. On the other hand, numerous examples show where ethnic minority
women, such as the Sa Pa in Laos, have seen their embroidery and designs co-opted by cheap imitators, forcing them to sell
their originals at unfair prices in order to earn the cash they have come to depend on. In many cases, local people have
excellent, marketable crafts, but few skills in marketing. They can be easily undercut by cheap imitators. This problem can
be counteracted, according to the ODI report, if agencies intervene to create fair marketplace conditions for all vendors.
For example, in Irian Jaya, Indonesia, an annual art auction was organized to prevent this problem and generate high profits
for local wood carvers on the island.
Adapted from Shah and Gupta, Tourism, the Poor and Other Stakeholders, 2000
Case Studies from Nepal, Laos, & Indonesia
